A little more of San Jose's character was chipped away when two of its more interesting retail establishments -- Babyland and Ace Loan Office -- quietly closed their doors recently.

Babyland, opened by Encarnacion Avilés and his family in 1987, moved to 1990 San Carlos St. in San Jose's Burbank neighborhood a couple years later. It became a landmark at the intersection of San Carlos and Bascom Avenue, immortalized by painter Wayne Jiang and photographer Josh Marcotte's images of San Jose's grittier side. But commuters and locals -- especially those without kids -- probably knew it best as the baby furniture store next to the Pink Poodle strip club, a juxtaposition worthy of "The Sopranos."

Ace Loan Office in downtown San Jose had an even longer history. The late Dennis Hooker opened the pawnshop on Post Street in 1955. Following Hooker's death in 2007, Lupe Chavez -- who had worked there for more than 40 years -- kept it going until this month. The economy must really be bad if even the pawnshops are going out of business.

Typical of San Jose's suburbanly urban culture, much more of a fuss was made -- including by yours truly -- when the Borders bookstore in Santana Row closed shop last year. Babyland and Ace Loan take with them decades of history, and you probably couldn't count the people who bought their first "something" -- whether it was a guitar or a crib -- at one of those stores.

Whether you shopped there or not, these were the kind of places every city worth its salt needs. Now they're gone, and San Jose is a little more boring because of it.

POETIC PARTING: Kevin Arnold will receive a commendation from the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors at its Tuesday meeting to recognize his 15 years as board president of Poetry Center San Jose. His contributions helped keep Poetry Center San Jose going, cofounder Nils Peterson said. The 9 a.m. meeting is open to the public.

HORSE SHOW HONORED: The Menlo Charity Horse Show, which has been around for 42 years, has received the prestigious designation of "Heritage Competition" from the U.S. Equestrian Federation. It's one of only 12 horse shows out of 2,600 in the United States to earn the honor, and a member of the U.S. Equestrian Federation will attend next year's horse show in August to present organizers with a certificate and a banner.

HIGH-DENSITY TOUR: The Silicon Valley Leadership Group is trying to show people where the best public transit-friendly housing areas are between San Jose and Sunnyvale in a pretty interesting way: By putting the whole tour on a VTA light-rail train.

The Oct. 27 tour of five housing communities will start at 8 a.m. the Fair Oaks VTA station in Sunnyvale with stops at Tasman in North San Jose and St. James in downtown San Jose before a lunch around 1 p.m. Registration, which is limited to 40 people, is $10 a person and can be done online at http://fallhousingtour2012.eventbrite.com. Questions can be directed to Sandra Escobar at sescobar@svlg.org or 408-501-7873.

DISTRICT HONORS: The East Side Union High School District Education Foundation will induct the 2012 class of Thomas P. Ryan Hall of Fame at a Nov. 3 dinner at Hayes Mansion in South San Jose.